STYLES

Make sure your title uses the correct style

When it comes to the style or grammar of titles used in academic articles and dissertations, there is a lot of variation. As a result, this article sets out the various styles used when creating titles, as proposed by the major style guides: the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the Modern Languages Association (MLA). Generally speaking, the AMA style is used by students in Medicine and the Sciences; the APA style is geared towards the Social Sciences and Psychology; whilst the MLA style is used in the Liberal Arts and Humanities.

To see the basics of each style when creating a title, such as when to use capitalisation in a title, the grammar of title, and other rules, choose from the styles below. To know more about the styles, we have provided links at the end of the article to Amazon where they can be purchased.

To our knowledge, the AMA style does not distinguish between titles for articles as a whole and dissertations. As such, we have based this style guide on the requirements for titles set out by the AMA style guide, 10th edition. The main considerations when writing your dissertation title from a style perspective are: (a) capitalisation in titles and subtitles; (b) quotation marks; (c) city, county, state, province, country names; (d) numbers; (e) abbreviation; (f) drugs; and (g) genus and species. Each of these considerations is present below with associated examples:

Capitalisation in titles and subtitles

The first letter of a title and subtitle should be capitalised [bold below]. A subtitle should be separated using a colon and then a single space (i.e.

Title: Subtitle)

P hysician Compensation, Cost, and Quality

C hange in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents

M inimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: T he Importance of Blinding

T he US Global Health Initiative: I nforming Policy With Evidence

Do not capitalise articles (i.e. a, an, the) unless they are the first letter of a title or subtitle [bold below] :

Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer

Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome

Do not capitalise prepositions that have three or fewer letters (e.g. as, at, by, in, of, off, on, to, up) [bold below] :

Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce

The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine

Do not capitalise coordinating conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or, for, nor) [bold below] :

Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder

Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease

Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease

Do not capitalise the word to in infinitives [bold below] :

How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study

Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness

If quotations marks are used in a title, they should be double (i.e. “. ” ), not single (i.e. ‘. ‘ ):

Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: ” When You’re 83, It’s Not Going to Be 20 Years “

Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: ” All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life “

City, county, state, province and country names

Only include the names of cities, counties, provinces and countries when essential, especially if there is no intention to make generalisations from the research findings to other locations [bold below] :

Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts. 2007

Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia. Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials

If the beginning of a title or subtitle includes numbers, spell these out. Otherwise, there are a number of rules including the rounding of large numbers, the use digit spans and hyphens, where appropriate, for years, amongst others. Refer to Chapter 19 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.

Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack

Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006

Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care

Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students

Abbreviations should be avoided in titles and subtitles unless titles are particularly long (see first example) or a group is better known by its acronym (see second example, where PEPFAR is short for The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries

Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs

Where possible, use the approved generic or non-proprietary names for drugs (see first example). However, proprietary names for drugs can be used where focus is on a particular proprietary drug (see second example). For additional rules, refer to Chapter 2 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.

Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land

Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeq TM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007

Genus and Species

Write genus and species in italics, capitalising the first letter of the genus, but not the species. Refer to Chapter 15 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition, for more detail.

Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae. Massachusetts, 2001-2006

Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patient

If the AMA Manual of Style, 10th edition, is not in your university library, it can be purchased on Amazon for around £34/US$73/CDN$67. It is a very comprehensive guide to the AMA style.

Abrahm, J.L. Banffy, M.B. and Harris, M.B. (2008) Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: “All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life”, JAMA. 299(8): 937-946.

Andriole, D.A. Whelan, A.J. and Jeffe, D.B. (2008) Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce, JAMA. 300(10): 1165-1173.

Bach, P.B. (2009) Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer, JAMA. 301(5): 539-541.

Bendavid, E. and Miller, G. (2010) The US Global Health Initiative: Informing Policy With Evidence, JAMA. 304(7): 791-792.

Bilukha, O.O. Brennan, M. and Anderson, M. (2007) Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006, JAMA. 298: 516-518.

Brook, R.H. (2010) Physician Compensation, Cost, and Quality, JAMA. 304(7): 795-796.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006) Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeqTM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007, JAMA. 297(18): 1972-1976.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007) Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae, Massachusetts, 2001-2006, JAMA. 298(22): 2612-2614.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts, 2007, JAMA. 301(8): 820-822.

Douglas, J.M. Jr. (2009) Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land, JAMA. 301(7): 769-771.

Eagen, K. (2007) Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students, JAMA. 298(9): 1067-1068.

Friedman, A.H. (2009) Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome, JAMA. 301(19): 2044-2045.

Harbarth, S. Fankhauser, C. Schrenzel, J. Christenson, J. Gervaz, P. Bandiera-Clerc, C. Renzi, G. Vernaz, N. Sax, H. and Pittet, D. (2008) Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patients, JAMA. 299(10): 1149-1157.

Harvey, J.C. (2008) The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine, JAMA. 300(10): 1213-1214.

Holmes, C.B. Coggin, W. Jamieson, D. Mihm, H. Granich, R. Savio, R. Hope, M. Ryan, C. Moloney-Kitts, M. Goosby, E.P. and Dybul, M. (2010) Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs, JAMA. 304(3): 313-320.

Khattri, S. (2009) Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease, JAMA. 301(19): 1986.

Lamb, H.R. and Weinberger, L.E. (2008) Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness, JAMA. 300(6): 722-724.

Miller, A. (2009) Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack, JAMA. 302(21): 2319.

Pearson, T.A. and Manolio, T.A. (2008) How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study, JAMA. 299(11): 1335-1344.

Plebani, M. and Basso, D. (2010) Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease, JAMA. 304(6): 639.

Psaty, B.M. and Prentice, R.L. (2010) Minimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: The Importance of Blinding, JAMA. 304(7): 793-794.

Pujades-Rodríguez, M. Balkan, S. Arnould, L. Brinkhof, M.A.W. and Calmy, A. (2010) Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries, JAMA. 304(3): 303-312.

Reuben, D.B. (2010) Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: “When You’re 83, It’s Not Going to Be 20 Years”, JAMA. 302(24): 2686-2694.

Shargorodsky, J. Curhan, S.G. Curhan, G.C. and Eavey, R. (2010) Change in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents, JAMA. 304(7): 772-778.

Sonis, J. Gibson, J.L. de Jong, J.T.V.M. Field, N.P. Hean, S. and Komproe, I. (2009) Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia: Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials, JAMA. 302(5): 527-536.

Thombs, B.D. (2010) Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder, JAMA. 304(8): 857.

Wunsch, H. Guerra, C. Barnato, A.E. Angus, D.C. Li, G. and Linde-Zwirble, W.T. (2010) Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care, JAMA. 303(9): 849-856.